


Comfort

by Diamond4Lyfe



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: 5 + 1, F/M, IronWidow Friendship, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark Friendship, Natasha Is Always Right, Natasha Romanov Is Not A Robot, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Natasha is important, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark must be protected at all cost, Tony and Natasha's friendship is important
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-09
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2019-07-10 05:45:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15942983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diamond4Lyfe/pseuds/Diamond4Lyfe
Summary: "Everyone needs comfort." The four times he visited her, the one time he didn't and the one time she went to visit him.





	Comfort

Natasha sighed as she placed her last bag down in her new room. For the time being she is Natalie Rushman, Pepper Pott’s assistant or more so Tony Stark’s babysitter. The man was unbelievable in so many ways. Maybe this is his way of dealing with the fact that he was dying or maybe he was just really unpredictable with his behavior. 

“Miss. Rushman is everything to your liking?” a voice said from up above. It was Jarvis, Tony’s trustee A.I. 

“Of course, thank you Jarvis.”

“You are welcome Miss. Rushman if you need anything please do ask.”

“I will.” Natasha said smiling softly. Somewhere in Tony’s file she read that he was mostly raised by his mother and their butler Edwin Jarvis; who served as Tony’s father figure for most of his life since his father was always working. 

Shaking her head, the red head pulled a set of PJ’s out, that contained a tank top and a pair of shorts, and headed to the shower. The quicker she showered the quicker she could go to bed. Quickly she set the shower and once the water was to her liking she stripped out of her work clothes and stepped in. The hot water felt great against her aching feet, Nat didn’t know how Pepper did it for as long as she did.

Honestly Pepper didn’t need her for the company, if anything Potts was using her to watch after Tony while she did all of the work. Things like making sure he doesn’t blow up the lab or himself and making sure that he ate. It felt like taking care of a child. That’s when Potts thought it was a good idea that she moved in the house with Stark so that he was watched after twenty four seven while she was on a two week business trip to New York.

“Think of it as a fun sleep over. Just in different rooms.” Stark had told her with a smile. Fury was not happy or pissed with the idea. It meant that she could keep a closer eye on Tony while they still had time to find a cure for his problem, but that meant that their daily check-ins would be cut short since she was forced to be at his side all day, everyday (and Stark was nosey.)

Sighing the red head turned off the shower, wrapped a towel around and stepped out of the shower. She quickly pat down to dry herself off, got dressed, threw the used towel in the hamper and turned off the light before she left the bathroom. She happily jumped under the covers and turned off the lamp next to her bed before slowly closing her eyes and falling into a dreamless sleep.

It was sometime in the early morning when there was a knock at her door. Natasha shot up faster than lighting and turned her head to the door. Normally she would grab her gun and try to investigate, but she was Natalie and Natalie didn’t have guns. No one could have broken in since the place was pretty secure with tons of security cameras and alarms around the whole house. Quickly she got out of bed and walked to the door. To her surprise it was none other than Tony himself at her door. He looked terrible though. His hair was messy, he had very dark bags under his eyes and she noticed that he was still in his clothes from earlier that day.

“Hey.” He said nervously. 

“Hi, Mr. Stark.” She said; her voice sounded as though she had not been sleep.

“I’m sorry for bothering you. I was just try to see- you know what never mind. Goodnight Natalie.” He turned to leave and she didn’t know why but she gently reached out and grabbed his hand. 

“It’s okay. Come in.” The older man nodded and let her pull him in the room. He took a seat on the side of the bed that wasn’t used and watched as the red headed woman close the door and walked back to the used side of the bed.

“What’s wrong?” she asked with softness in her voice.

“I had a nightmare. I’m pretty sure you know what happened to me, so we’re not even going to get into that. I was going to go down to the lab to work on some things.” Tony said honestly. 

“I know you probably hear this a lot but have you talked to anyone about your nightmares?”

“Rhodey, Happy, and Pepper know. They only know what I tell them though.”

“I meant like a professional.”

“They don’t understand.” He said quietly. They sat in silence for a few moments before she spoke. 

“I have nightmares too.” she said. He looked at her in shock. Natalie didn’t look like the kind to have nightmares about anything. If anything Tony thought that she would have peaceful dreams of nothing but sunshine.

“About? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“When I was younger I was abused. Like sexually abused and physically abused. Everytime I had nightmares I would just stay up and find something to do instead of going back to sleep. I was scared that everytime I closed my eyes they would come find me and drag me back to the dark place. The only person who knows the story is my best friend. When I have nightmares he would always come in the room and we would talk for hours.” 

When she finished her story, Tony was frozen in his spot. He didn’t know what to say so for the first time he didn’t say anything, he just stared at her. Just as Tony was shocked at her confession, the young woman was equally as shocked at herself. Natasha knew that was in deep telling him about her past like that. It wasn’t the whole story but that was all he needed to know. He needed to know that he wasn’t the only person dealing with these type of things in the world.

“I’m sorry.” Tony said after a few beats of silence. 

“It’s okay.”

“I talk to Pepper about my nightmares, but she’s in New York dealing with some things so that’s why I came and talked to you.”

“It’s okay. I promise. I learned that it’s better to talk about what’s bothering you then to hold in.”

“Have you talked to a professional?” Tony asked with an eyebrow raised.

“No, my best friend went through the same thing I have so I just talk to him.” The billionaire hummed in agreement before they went back to silence. Nat looked over at the clock that was sitting next to her lamp. ‘2:09 AM’ it read.

“We should go to sleep. You’re welcome to stay in here for the night.”

Tony nodded his head as he bent down to take off his shoes and socks before standing to strip himself of his jeans and climbing right back into bed with her. He kept enough space between them but was still close enough to her.

“Thank you Natalie.”

“You’re welcome Tony.” They fell asleep sometime later and the next morning Natasha woke up with Tony’s arm around her waist and his face tucked in her neck. She craned her neck up just a little bit to see what time it was on the clock. 

‘9:42 AM’

She sighed and placed her head back down on the pillow. They both could use a little bit more sleep anyway. She was about to close her eyes again when she felt Tony’s head lift off her neck a little bit. 

“Is it too early?”

“It’s almost 9: 45 in the morning.”

“Well let’s go back to sleep. Jarvis please take all calls for myself and Miss. Rushman.”

“Of course Sir.” Tony smiled and wrapped his arm tighter around the red head’s middle before burying his face back into her neck and was happy when she didn’t push him away; if anything she snuggled up closer to him. 

“Best sleep ever.” He thought as he went back to sleep.   
\-----------  
Natasha groaned as she sat up against the headboard. She used her left hand to rub circles on her right shoulder to ease up the pain. It’s been a week since the battle with Loki and somewhere in the back of her mind she knew that using Captain America to jump on a moving alien was the worst idea ever. The pain didn’t go away even with the pain medicine that was given to her by SHIELD’s medical team, and it was the strongest kind they had. 

“Jarvis what time is it?”

“Three am on the dot Agent Romanoff.”

“Ugh thank you.”

“You are welcome.” Suddenly there was a knock on her door. She knew that it could only be Tony or Bruce, since they were the only three in the tower. Steve had left to go explore the country, Clint went back home with his family, and Thor was still on Asgard dealing with Loki and his problems.  
No one knew why she wanted to stay with the science duo but no one, not even Fury himself, questioned her about it. As much as she loved Clint with all her heart she knew that he needed sometime with his family after the events that took place.

She quickly got out of bed and answered the door; it wasn’t surprising that it was Tony but he looked even worst then the last time that she saw him like that and the man was dying then.

“I couldn’t sleep.” He said once she closed and locked the door back.

“Me either.” Natasha said as she walked to the freezer and pulled out an ice pack and placed it right on her shoulder. Tony frowned when he saw her do this and quietly walked over to her. 

“Your shoulder still messing with you?” The genius asked before gently turning her away from him and removing the ice pack. There he saw a purple and black bruise forming and it looked very tender to the touch.

“Yeah. They give me the strongest medicine ever and it still hurts.” The spy said as he gently traced the bruise with the tip of his middle finger. 

“We should have Bruce look at it in the morning; there could be a muscle pulled under there. We don’t need this to get any worst then it already is.” 

“Okay.” 

Tony took her hand in his and walked them over to the bed. He let her go first (since it was her room) before climbing in right after her. Once he was comfortable, he pulled Natasha to rest her head on his chest while his arm went up to her shoulder to trace the bruise again. 

“I had a nightmare that I didn’t come back down in time,” Tony said softly. “I thought I was going to get blown to pieces.”

“How long?”

“Almost every night. Some nights I dream about what would have happened if Loki would have won.” Natasha nodded against his chest and used her pointer finger to trace his Arc Reactor through his t-shirt.

“What about you?” he asked. Tony liked to pride himself on knowing Natasha like the back of his hand, maybe not as well as Barton, but then again no one knew Natasha better then Barton. Stark was a different story. After her time as Natalie, she did come back to him a few weeks later and apologized to him. The billionaire really couldn’t have been mad at her for doing her job and he was technically alive because of her; after that night they talked about everything and anything as they shared a bottle of vodka. Nat has since became his go to drinking buddy and sleeping partner if his nightmare was really bad. 

“The first few days I was watching after Clint, you know. Making sure he was okay and staying up with him. When he wanted take a vacation I knew he wanted to be alone so that’s why I stayed with you guys. Once he was gone the nightmares came. I was thinking about the words Loki said to me.” 

“You can wipe out your ledger you know.” 

“Meh.”

“You just saved New York, hell you probably just saved the world.”

“I know.”

“So please give yourself some credit, would you?” 

When she didn’t answer him, Tony thought that she had fallen asleep, but she was still wide awake tracing his reactor.

“Jarvis can you please put on The Expendables?” 

“Which one Sir?”

“The first one my good man.” 

The room glowed with the T.V. being turned on and the sound of guns being fired played out causing both adults to have their attention to the screen. 

“I wanna be like those guys.”

“Can you even hold a gun Tony?” The red head asked as she sat up to look at him straight in the eye.

“Yes.”

“Mhmm sure you can.” Natasha said with a small laugh causing Tony to smile for the first time in days.

“I’ll prove it to you tomorrow. You and I go head to head in the gun range.”

“Oh you’re so on. Now can you please get my ice pack?”

“Of course m’lady.” Quickly Tony ran to the kitchen and threw unfrozen pack back in the freezer and grabbed a fresh one out for his friend.

“Thank you.” She said as he held the pack on her bruise and she made herself comfortable on his chest once more.

“You’re welcome.”

Sometime in the middle of the second movie Natasha had fallen asleep and Tony removed the pack and placed it on the small dresser next to her bed, before telling Jarvis to turn off the T.V. and go into sleep mode. Soon after that the billionaire fell asleep easy for the first time in days.

The next morning, Tony noticed that Natasha has shifted from his chest onto her stomach with both arms folded under her head.

“Jarvis, time please.”

“Eleven eighteen in the morning Sir.”

“Is Bruce up yet?” Tony asked as he started playing with Natasha’s short curls that still covered up the bruise that was forming on her right shoulder. 

“Yes Sir. Doctor Banner is in the kitchen as we speak.”

“Okay tell him that I need him to look at Nat’s shoulder later today. I’m going back to sleep for a few more hours.”

“Yes Sir.” Stark rolled onto his side and gently pulled the Russian closer to him before going back to sleep.  
\----------  
Tony was sitting at a little café with a baseball cap over his head and sunglasses over his eyes. He sighed as he took a slip of his water and scanned the room. He was currently in Russia looking for Natasha, even though he did text her and tell her that he was worried about her after the events that took place D.C. and if she didn’t respond to him in two days he would fly to find her. It’s been six days since he sent her that message.

It was on day three that he grabbed Happy and took a flight out to Russia to find the red head. The search has been unsuccessful since then but he didn’t want to leave this country unless he had her going back to the states with him. Safe and sound. 

Tony looked around once again and there he spotted her. She was sitting at the far end of the café with her head down but he knew it was her, because let’s face it Tony knows everything. He stood up and walked over to the cashier and ordered a chocolate chip cookie and some Russian drink he was having a hard time pronouncing. He paid and walked over to the other counter where he received his items. He left a nice tip before walking over to the Russian.

“I knew you would be here.” He said as he took a seat in front of her and slid the coffee and cookie to her. Finally she looked at him and he noticed that her normally green eyes were now blue and her hair was no longer red, but black.

“I’m actually happy to see you.” She told him, causing him to smile. 

“I happy to see you too. I was wondering why you didn’t reply to my message.”

“I destroyed my phone and I’ve been using payphones. I don’t know if you’re the type to answer unknown numbers.” Natasha said with a shrug of her shoulders. 

“I would have answered if I knew it was you. So what’s with the hair and eyes? I know you have to lay low but you changed.” 

“Ha. It’s a wig and contacts. I’m not ready to dye my hair just yet.” Tony hummed in agreement before reaching over and grabbing the cup of coffee. Even though it was for her, he still wanted to taste it.

“That’s weird.” He said as he handed it back to her and stole a piece of her cookie. 

“What did you order?” The Russian asked before taking a sip herself. It wasn’t weird like Tony said, it just had a funny after taste. Maybe it was because she hasn’t had Russian coffee in over ten or so years but it was still good regard less. Tony tried pouncing the word again for her, but failed which caused the natural red head to laugh at him. The first real time she laughed in days. 

“What are you going to do now?”

“I don’t know. Everything I ever did is out there for the world to read. I have no plan and nowhere to stay.” Nat said with her head in her hands. This wasn’t the first time Tony has ever saw the young woman close to tears. Normally when she came back from missions that involved children she was restless and normally came to his room from a nightmare. 

“You have a place to stay.” He said as he stood up and reached his hand out for hers. She silently took his hand in hers and together they walked out of the café. Natasha was confused on what Tony was talking about, saying she had a place to stay. She had nowhere to stay all of her safe houses were gone, since most were blown up do to some idiots trying to kill her. 

They walked behind the café to a black SUV that was parked and waiting. Tony opened the backdoor for her and allowed her to go in first before he followed behind and shut the door.

“Happy you remember Nat right?” Tony said to his friend who turned around from the driver seat.

“Yeah. How have you been?” Happy asked with a smile, which caused the spy to smile right back. 

“I’ve been good. How about you?” she said back as she buckled in her seatbelt as the man next to her did the same.

“Eh, you know same old thing. Driving Tony around with little pay.” The man said jokingly. 

“Hardy har har.” The genius said with a roll of his eye before he took off his cap and sunglasses and shook out his hair as the Russian took off her raven wig and shook out her shoulder length red hair, which was a lot lighter than the last time he saw her. 

“To the airport boss?”

“You know it.” He said before rolling up the window so that he and the spy could have privacy. 

“Why are we going to the airport?” Natasha said with a confused eyebrow raised.

“Because we’re going home.”

“Home?”

“Yes. Home. Stark Tower, but I’m in the middle of trying to redesign it so that it could be Avengers’ Tower. You know so that we could all be together.”

“Tony-“

“Natasha you are my best friend. I don’t want you hiding out here in Russia in a shit hotel when you have a home in New York with me.” Stark said with seriousness in his eyes. Of course the red head thought of Tony as one of her friends. Hell she was just as close to him as she was Barton (just not as close, cause Barton is his own category of friendship with her.) The fact that he was letting her stay with him was amazing and so thoughtful. 

“Thank you Tony. I really do appreciate you.” 

“No problem. I honestly don’t mind having you at the tower. I’m lonely.” He added with a cheeky smile. She was going to ask about Pepper living at the tower with them but decided against it; he seemed too happy with the idea that he found her alive and well. Natasha decided to snuggle into Tony’s shoulder while his head landed on hers and together they drifted it off into a dreamless, peaceful sleep.   
\--------------------  
Tony ended his conversation with Thor and Steve and headed to look around the new compound. It was decided by everyone that the new members of the Avengers needed training. Although the tower was home, there was not enough room for everyone to train without breaking something. So with his smarts (and money) and Steve’s designs, they created the new Avengers’ Headquarters. He had to say that he wouldn’t mind staying here when he got tired of the city life.

As he walked down the hall his mind wondered to a particular red head. He knew, along with everyone else, that Bruce’s departure was hard for her. Even if she would never admit it. The relationship that they had was weird at first, but everyone grew use to it. Now that Bruce was God knows where, no one knew if Natasha would be okay. She really did care for him and dare say loved him. But Natasha was not a doll that could be broken easily, no, this was a woman who took down men three times her size, faced an alien fleet head on, and took out an army of robots. She was tough as nails; a relationship ending was not going to stop her. 

As he continued to walk down the hall he hears the sounds of baby giggles coming from one of the many empty rooms. When he approaches the room quietly and smiled at the sight in front. Natasha was leaned against the rail looking down at her phone with a smirk playing on her face. 

“So I’m guessing the baby was born?” Tony asked as he walked closer to her, scaring the spy slightly since she didn’t know that he was so close.   
“Yeah, he’s fat.” She said with a slight smirk. 

“What’s his name?”

“Nathaniel Pietro Barton.”

“Cute. How does it feel to be an aunt for the third time?” 

“Amazing!” she said with a sincere smile. Tony hummed before offering his hand to her, and she took it before they walked out of the room together. He has no idea where they were walking to but he knew that he wanted to ask about the whole Bruce situation.   
“So what do you think of your new home?”

“Hmm, I love it. Whoever knew that I loved black and red so much is a genius.” She said while looking at Tony with an amused eyebrow raised.

“Ha-ha. I was trying to make it like your room at the tower; which you still have be the way. I’m not kicking you out.”

“But you’re kicking everyone else out?”

“Of course.” Natasha give a small laugh as they walked hand and hand around the compound. Suddenly Tony stopped walking and turned the red head to face him, without letting go of her hand. Natasha was slightly confused on why he stopped walking, but from seriousness on his face, she knew that he wanted to talk.

“Nat,”  
“Yes?”

“Are you okay?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t bullshit me Romanoff.” He said and at this point the Russian knew she was caught in her own lie. 

“No. I’m not fine.” 

“I know. Let’s go back to the tower tonight. We could have a bottle of vodka and talk.” Tony suggested. Natasha nodded her head and together they walked out to the orange Lamborghini that was parked in front of the entrance. 

“That guy has no respect for lawn maintenance.” Tony said under breath. The red head didn’t know what he was talking about until she looked at the huge marking left by none other than Thor. Tony opened the passenger door for her and she shot him a smile of thanks as she slid in the car and put her seatbelt on. Once she was comfortable Stark closed her door and jogged to the other side of the car and got in.

“Ready?”

“Of cour-.” Before she could finish her sentence, Tony stepped on the gas with such force that it caused Natasha to squeak out in surprise but her surprise squeak turned into laughter, which caused Tony to laugh as well. 

When the two got back to the tower, they went their separate ways so that they can change into something more comfortable. Once they were both done they headed back to the common living room and scientist smirked when he saw her dressed in sweatpants and his striped hoodie. The one she stole sometime when she was Natalie Rushman and never give it back. 

“Alright. Tell me what’s wrong.” Tony said as they got comfortable on the sofa. He had a bottle of vodka in his hand while the red head sat Indian style facing him.  
“I’m tired.” She said as she took the bottle from his hand and took a swing from it.

“That’s not what I meant.” 

“I don’t know what you want then.”

“Stop bullshitting me ‘Tasha. Just talk to me please.” 

“I miss him.” She said softly. Tony sighed and took the bottle from her hand, placed it on the coffee table, and pulled the red head closer to him. She settled her head on his chest, her legs on his lap, while his arms went around her shoulders, in a comforting manner. 

“He’ll be back.” He said into her hair.

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep Stark.”

“I never promised that he would come back. I just said that he’ll be back,” Tony waited a beat before asking, “Did you love him?”  
“I adored him.”

“That’s your way of saying you loved someone?”

“I was taught not to love. Everyone I loved has been taken from me, so I adore.”

“You know that saying. If you love something let it go and if it comes back to you then it was meant to be yours forever.”

“You’re going soft you know.” The Russian said with a small laugh.

“I’ve been hanging around Rogers too long.” The genius said, matching her small laugh. The two fell into comfortable silence with each other, just sharing a bottle of vodka and listening to each other’s heart beats.  
\-----------------  
He was mad at her. That much she knew. Maybe mad wasn’t the right word to use. Maybe angry. Pissed off. Maybe have her arrested and join the others at The Raft. Maybe he hated her. 

No, he definitely hated her. 

Natasha didn’t visit him at the hospital, because she knew that Tony would make a scene and his heart would go up, alarming the nurses. Rhodey was nice enough to call her and let her know that he was okay. Not in the best shape, but he was okay none the less. 

“Tony’s out of the hospital. He stayed for a whole week because he took so many hard hits to his head and chest and the doctor wanted to make sure he doesn’t pass out at home.”

“I really do appreciate you calling me. For giving me updates on him.” She said as she picked at her shirt. 

“It’s not a problem. I need you to fix things Natasha. For Tony. For yourself. “ Rhodey said in a gentle voice. The red head was shocked that he wasn’t yelling at her for letting Steve and Bucky go. After all it was her fault that he was hurt along with Tony. 

“I will. I just need to let him heal before I do anymore damage.”

“I know. Goodnight Natasha. Watch your six.”

“Goodnight Rhodes. Watch your six too.” She said before she hung up the phone. Placing the phone on the bedside table next her, Natasha turned off the lamp and snuggled into her covers and closed her eyes. 

It was early morning when the red head woke up with a start. She was breathing heavy and sweat was forming around her forehead. Quickly, she picked up the phone and checked the time. 

4:50 A.M.

Sighing, she got out of bed and headed for her bathroom to use the toilet and then she washed her hands before throwing water on her face. Her nightmare was a bad one. Probably the worst one she had in years. The scene took place back at the airport, Steve and Bucky got way and Rhodey was following them, of course he got hit by Vision, but instead of it being his legs it was his heart. 

“It’s your fault! He’s gone!” Tony yelled at her. That’s when the red head woke up. 

She knew that her next move would probably get her in trouble, but she didn’t care. Natasha needed to see Tony.   
\---------------  
It was it was around five thirty in the morning and Tony was down in the lab working on his damaged suit. It has been an eventful month for him and he just wanted to be left alone. He even went as far as kicking Pepper out of the house and telling FRIDAY to take all calls for him, unless it was Rhodey.

He hasn’t been sleeping well either. As much as he hates to admit it, Tony misses sleeping with Natasha; but she betrayed it him. Letting Bucky and Steve go and to put the cherry on the cake, Barnes had killed his parents. And Steve knew about it. He wondered if they all knew about it and didn’t tell him. 

“Boss Ms. Romanoff is here.” FRIDAY said breaking him out of his thoughts.   
“Tell her to go away.”

“She insist that you let her in Boss.”

“She’s not going to go away is she?” Tony asked as he exited his lab and walked to the kitchen. 

“Not until she talks to you.”

“Fine, let her in. Bring her up to the main common floor.” The billionaire sighed as he pulled out a glass bottle of water from the fridge and took a slip from it. Before he could think of what he wanted to say to her, the elevator dinged and Natasha rounded the corner. Tony didn’t know who looked worst; himself or her. She had dark bags under her eyes and her normally bright hair was thrown into a messy ponytail, that doesn’t look like it has come down to be brushed once. 

“Tony.” She said softly. 

“Natasha.” He said in the same tone, but his tone also carried a warning for her not waste his time. 

“How have you been?” she asked as she slowly walked to the kitchen, but decided to take a seat at the bar; a safe distance from him.

“Sore. My heart hurts and my body does too.” 

“So I’ve heard. Did they treat you right at the hospital?” she asked as she played with her fingers.

“You would know if you came to visit me.” 

“I didn’t know if you really wanted to see me after everything that happened.” 

“It would have been nice, but then again I wouldn’t know if I was getting Natasha Romanoff or some double agent.” He said with venom in each word. His tone caused the red head to wince and it didn’t go unnoticed by the older man.

“I’m sorry.”

“Did you know?”

“Tony, I-“

“Don’t bullshit me Romanoff! Did you know?” Natasha looked at the ground before looking Tony straight in the eyes. His eyes told a story of a man who was lied to so many times in his life, and someone who has been hurt by so many people; at this point he just wanted the truth.

“Yes. I knew.” She said. Suddenly the glass bottle that was in his hand was thrown on the ground and millions of tiny pieces of sharp, cutting glass flew everywhere. The red head once again winced but didn’t tear her eyes away from the man in front of her. 

“You fucking knew and didn’t bother to tell me! What the fuck did I do to deserve such uncaring people that I, at one point, was supposed to call my friends and teammates?” he screamed at her and Natasha could do nothing but sit there and listen to him yell on and on. Of course she knew that he would be pissed at her, but she didn’t expect tears to be rolling down his face as he talked. 

“Give me one good reason why you didn’t tell me.”

“To tell you the truth I don’t have a good reason. I should have told you and I-“

“Make something up like you always do to get out of nasty situations!”

“I can’t!” she yelled back at him. At this point Natasha was up from her seat and was standing a few feet from Tony, being mindful of the broken glass.

“Why not? You’re so good at lying. It’s all you do! It’s all you ever done since we met. You lied to me so many times at this point I don’t believe anything you say.”

“I lied about being Natalie Rushman because it was my job and I apologized for that already. What more do you want me to do?” 

“Tell me why you didn’t tell me about my parents.”

“You wont believe me.”

“Well then in that case leave my house and leave me alone. For good.” Tony walked out from the kitchen and was making his way through the living room to get back to his lab, but her voice stopped him in his tracks.

“Why would you want to hear something like that from someone like me?” she asked. He turned around, face still wet with tears and anger and held his arms limply at his sides as he waited for to finish. 

“I found out the same time Steve did. It was right after we released the files so that the world could read in D.C. He wanted to find Barnes before the government did, so he, Sam and I went looking for him. We went to this old Hydria base in Georgia and found most of the files on the Winter Solider there. The ones that the public didn’t get to read. It was when we were at the hotel that night that we read about your parents. Sam and I told Steve that we needed to tell you about it, since he was the one who thought that if we found Barnes it would be a good idea for him to live with us. But time and time again he always defended Barnes, saying that he and the Winter Solider were two different people.” She said. As she told her story, Tony noticed that she was actually shaking from where she stood and her voice had cracked. 

“I really wanted to tell you Tony, believe me I did. But why would you want to hear it from me? I killed and hurt and mistrusted so many people in my life; that sometimes I don’t know if I am being a double agent or if I’m telling the truth. You are my one true friend, besides Clint, that knows my whole story and never turned your back on me. I’m not asking you to forgive me because I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but I’m asking you to see why I couldn’t tell you. I’m not the right person to ever tell anyone things like this.” 

Once she was done the whole room was quiet and it was then that both adults noted that she was crying. Natasha Romanoff, the strongest woman he knew, was crying for him to give her another chance at their friendship. After another beat of silence, the red head started walking towards the elevator, attempting to leave before something else came out of her mouth. But before she even hit the button, an arm was around her shoulders and she was thrown into something hard and that something was Tony’s chest. Tony was actually hugging her.

“Oh Nat. I need you understand why I was so mad at you. You didn’t come see me at the hospital and I thought that you didn’t care about me. Now you tell me that knew about my parents. I could never hate you forever over that because it wasn’t your friend who killed my parents. ‘Tasha I need you.” He said as he buried his face into her fire red hair. 

“I didn’t think you would want me around. I let them go after all. It’s my fault that all of this happened. I’m the reason that Rhodey got hurt and I’m the reason that you found out the way you did and you got hurt in the process. I’m so sorry Tony. I will spend every day making it up to you if I have too.” The Russian said as more tears came down her face, soaking the genius’ t-shirt in the process.

“Just don’t leave me again.” He said with all seriousness in his voice.

“Deal.” 

After a while, Tony let her go and wiped her tears with the pads of his thumbs and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. Natasha smiled and returned him the same kindness to him. 

“Let’s go upstairs.” He said as he pressed the button on the elevator. Once the doors opened he gently pulled her in with him and FRIDAY already knew to bring them up this his floor. Once they were on his floor, the two walked to his bedroom and jumped into bed. 

Together they snuggled together and slept peacefully for the first time in a long time. Natasha knew at this moment that she would do anything to keep Tony’s friendship and never let him go.


End file.
